Patriotic pride shines through in mini-parade
By:
Jill Meier, Journal editor
Jill Meier/BV Journal
Sunday’s mini-Loyalty Day Parade may have been the shortest parade in the event’s 55-year history, but it was certainly bigger than ever in pride and tradition.
The small-in-number unit parade staged on Sunday – Loyalty Day – by Three Rivers VFW Post 4726 and American Legion Post 318 kept the town’s tradition in check.
“We postponed it possibly until Independence Day, but we just felt that wasn’t good enough. We still have to have a parade. It’s a long tradition and we don’t want to break tradition,” said Quartermaster Mike Rollag.
Ruth Gunnink and her kids, Isaiah, Izak and Tyli, took occupancy at their usual parade space at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Holly Boulevard. Gunnink said she spied the parade announcement on Facebook.
“We thought we’d still come up, even it was shorter, just to get out. We’ve been social-distancing, and this is still a good way to do that and not have a lot of people,” she said.
As for the absence of the usual crowd of thousands who line the parade route and the oodles of candy, the Gunnink kids were a little disappointed to go home empty-handed.
Beth Schaffer and her dad/father-in-law, Russ (Kielman???), took a break from their bike ride on the grass of Brandon Lutheran to watch the parade units pass by.
“My husband has been a full-time military employee and this would have been the first time he would have been able to watch the parade,” Shaffer said. “Instead, he went golfing.”
Rollag and his VFW comrades were delighted with Sunday’s sunny skies and mild temperatures.
“It’s a beautiful day,” he said. “We’re glad to be out here and hopefully people come out of the house and are out on the sidewalks and want to see the fire trucks and police. It’s a sense of community.”
